Ink jet printhead nozzle plates

(19)

(11)

EP 0 867 294 A3

(12)	EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION

(88)	Date of publication A3:
	04.08.1999 Bulletin 1999/31

(43)	Date of publication A2:
	30.09.1998 Bulletin 1998/40

(21)	Application number: 98302449.8

(22)	Date of filing: 30.03.1998

(51)	International Patent Classification (IPC)⁶: B41J 2/16, B41J 2/14

(84)	Designated Contracting States:
	AT BE CH DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LI LU MC NL PT SE
	Designated Extension States:
	AL LT LV MK RO SI

(30)

Priority:

28.03.1997 US 827240

(71)	Applicant: Lexmark International, Inc.
	Lexington, Kentucky 40550 (US)

(72)	Inventors:
	Murthy, Ashok Lexington, Kentucky 40515 (US) Jackson, Tonya Harris Lexington, Kentucky 40514 (US) Corley, Richard Earl Lexington, Kentucky 40514 (US) Komplin, Steven Robert Lexington, Kentucky 40515 (US) Williams, Gary Raymond Lexington, Kentucky 40517 (US)

(74)	Representative: Tomlinson, Kerry John
	Frank B. Dehn & Co., European Patent Attorneys, 179 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4EL London EC4V 4EL (GB)

(54)	Ink jet printhead nozzle plates

(57) A method for making an inkjet printhead nozzle plate from a composite strip containing a nozzle layer (10) and an adhesive layer (24) is disclosed. The adhesive layer (24) is coated with a polymeric sacrificial layer (28) prior to laser ablating the flow features (16,18,20) in the composite strip. A method is also provided form improving adhesion between the adhesive layer (24) and the sacrificial layer (28). Once the composite strip containing the sacrificial layer (28) is prepared, the coated composite strip is then laser abated to form flow features (16,18,20) in the strip in order to form the nozzle plates. After forming the flow features, the sacrificial layer (28) is removed. Individual inkjet printhead nozzle plates are separated from the composite strip by singulating the nozzle plates with a laser.

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